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Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, M.D., Ph.D

Lecturer on Global Health and Social Medicine, Part-time, Harvard Medical School
Lecturer on Human Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, M.D., Ph.D., is a cardiologist and evolutionary biologist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University’s Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, and the School of Medicine at UCLA. Her research focuses on evolutionary biology and the natural world as sources of insights for human health and development. A leader in the field of evolutionary medicine, she chairs the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Board on Animal Health Sciences, Conservation, and Research (BAHSCR). Zoobiquity, her best-selling popular science book co-authored with K. Bowers, was a Finalist in the American Association for the Advancement of Science Excellence in Science Books Award, a Smithsonian Top Book of 2012, and a Discover Magazine Best Book of the Year. Her recently published Wildhood chronicles the transition from juvenile to adult biology and behavior across vertebrate species. Dr. Natterson-Horowitz earned her B.A. and M.A. at Harvard University, her M.D. at University of California, San Francisco, and her Ph.D. at University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Natterson-Horowitz’s research focuses on the natural world as a source of insights for human health and development. Her Phylogeny Lab develops translational tools that integrate knowledge from a wide range of metazoan species to provide novel insights into human challenges. Areas of focus have included cardiovascular disease, women’s health–mammary and ovarian cancer, endometrial disease, gestational hypertension—and, most recently, mental health.

Manipulating the exposome to enable better ageing.
Authors: Authors: Shiels PG, Painer J, Natterson-Horowitz B, Johnson RJ, Miranda JJ, Stenvinkel P.
Biochem J
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Impacts of Psychopharmaceuticals on the Neurodevelopment of Aquatic Wildlife: A Call for Increased Knowledge Exchange across Disciplines to Highlight Implications for Human Health.
Authors: Authors: Chan SJ, Nutting VI, Natterson TA, Horowitz BN.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
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SARS-COV-2 and biomimetics: What saves the planet will save our health.
Authors: Authors: Stenvinkel P, Painer J, Shiels PG, Bansal A, Fereidouni S, Natterson-Horowitz B, Johnson RJ, Miranda JJ.
J Intern Med
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Stress, Subordination, and Anomalies of Feeding Across the Tree of Life: Implications for Interpreting Human Eating Disorders.
Authors: Authors: Natterson-Horowitz B, Cho JH.
Front Psychol
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Did giraffe cardiovascular evolution solve the problem of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction?
Authors: Authors: Natterson-Horowitz B, Baccouche BM, Mary J, Shivkumar T, Bertelsen MF, Aalkjær C, Smerup MH, Ajijola OA, Hadaya J, Wang T.
Evol Med Public Health
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Beyond Zoonoses in One Health: Non-communicable Diseases Across the Animal Kingdom.
Authors: Authors: Natterson-Horowitz B, Desmarchelier M, Winkler AS, Carabin H.
Front Public Health
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The pandemic exposes human nature: 10 evolutionary insights.
Authors: Authors: Seitz BM, Aktipis A, Buss DM, Alcock J, Bloom P, Gelfand M, Harris S, Lieberman D, Horowitz BN, Pinker S, Wilson DS, Haselton MG.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
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Species-Spanning Echocardiography: Cardiovascular Insights from Across the Animal Kingdom.
Authors: Authors: Horowitz BN, Kutinsky IB, Linde A.
Curr Cardiol Rep
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A planetary health perspective for kidney disease.
Authors: Authors: Stenvinkel P, Shiels PG, Painer J, Miranda JJ, Natterson-Horowitz B, Johnson RJ.
Kidney Int
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Biomimetics - Nature's roadmap to insights and solutions for burden of lifestyle diseases.
Authors: Authors: Stenvinkel P, Painer J, Johnson RJ, Natterson-Horowitz B.
J Intern Med
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